Three Imaginary Girls recommends dancing with your Dad and Bill Callahan’s smoky voice, among other things

The last couple of months have been jam-packed with extra-great band shows and sweat-worthy festivals and it’s only getting better from here on out. Below is only a mere smattering of what’s going on next week. For more shows and dates throughout the week check the Three Imaginary Girls calendar or the KEXP Club Calendar.

I will not recommend that you see the Wallflowers this Sunday. They are playing this Sunday at the Showbox, and you could technically go see them. But instead of selling your soul to the mop-topped husky-folkster wannabe you COULD go the KEXP Father’s Day Kids Dance Party instead!

Kid’s Dance Party Father’s Day with KEXP on Sunday June 21st

Apparently last year was a smashing success and tickets are selling out fast. So grab that baby out of her high chair, wash her face and get her on down to the Showbox SODO this Sunday to celebrate Dad’s Day at the Kid’s Dance Party! KEXP DJs Darek Mazzone, Kid Hops and Riz will be there to dance the day away with kiddos and adults alike and break dancing lessons will be available. Your kids can fill up on sugar-fuel (cupcakes will be provided) and participate in the many games and activities planned. Word to the wise: Dads, don’t break your back while trying to show off your break dancing skills. All proceeds to benefit KEXP.

White Rabbits & The Subjects Play the Crocodile Monday June 22nd

All gloomy piano, crushing drums and melodrama, White Rabbits impressed me with their first studio album in 2007, Fort Nightly. For their second release, It’s Frightening, they enlisted Spoon’s Britt Daniel to produce and help with songwriting duties. Daniel’s musical addition to the band brought out a stealthier White Rabbits, a little darker and a little more self-indulgent.

White Rabbits are eerie and solemn at times, creating a ridiculously large sound from a mere six-piece band. I’ve never seen them live, but I have spent long nights hunkered down over Fort Nightly. If their album sound is any indication, their live show should be lonesome and stunning, laced with piano and reaching fruition through the slight rough-hewn but melodic vocals of Stephen Patterson.

Major Lazer Feat. Diplo and Switch at Neumo’s Thursday June 25th

A dance party of ANOTHER kind, Major Lazer featuring Diplo and Switch, will shakedown Neumo’s this Thursday. Their superhero action-packed collaboration may prove to be the most entertaining music event of the week. Major Lazer’s album from this year, Hold the Line, features everything from bubbles to crashing glass to dial tones to horse whinny samples. Their sound is chopped and mixed, part Missy Elliott-infused dub and frenetic cyber-electro sounds. Dance music of the future perhaps? Future OR present, Major Lazer’s musical duds will rustle and tussle at Neumo’s. Be prepared to dance.

Bill Callahan plays the Triple Door Saturday June 27

If I could pick any voice in the world for my dream man to have, it would be Bill Callahan’s hands down. He’s THAT good. His sound has changed a bit throughout the years (he is very prolific). Some of his early stuff as Smog, like Julius Caesar, was all muddy distortion, grainy and unrefined, though not unlovable. In contrast, his later stuff like Dongs of Sevotion and A River Ain’t Too Much To Love took on a more emotive chamber-folk sound, truly identifying him as a lo-fi underground folk rocker. Post-Smog, as plain ole Bill Callahan, his band sound has evolved to include more instruments like cello, French horn and organ. Every album of his is like a self-portrait, repainted as he changes along with the cycle of life.

Bill Callahan at the Triple Door is my show of the week, by far. I’m getting excited just thinking about seeing him in such a private, lovely venue, and feeling his words more than just hearing him. He is truly a great American songwriter and singer.

“I wanna see it when you get stoned on a cloudy breezy desert afternoon” – Built to Spill